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Honor A Veteran Darron Mikeworth Sergeant United States Army, Iraq, Hometown: San Antonio, Texas When a suicide bomber detonated his deadly cargo beside Sergeant Darron Mikeworth’s Humvee in near Baghdad in April, 2005, the young soldier’s life was changed forever in a blinding flash of fire and steel. After weeks in a coma, Sergeant Mikeworth awoke to learn just how much damage the bomb had done to his body. Every bone in his face was shattered in the blast, he lost his left eye, his nose was torn away leaving a gaping hole in his face, his jaw was ripped open, his lips were badly torn, his teeth were damaged, and he had third degree burns on his face. The once handsome young soldier was left horribly disfigured, but no terrorist’s bomb could destroy his will to live and his desire to continue to serve his country. The road to recovery has been long and hard for Darron Mikeworth. He has undergone multiple surgeries to rebuild his face, but throughout his ordeal, he has concentrated on others rather then himself. For a long time he avoided picking his young sons up from school, because he did not want them to be teased by other children because of his appearance. When friends came to visit, he would wait in another room while his wife, Dea, told them and their children what to expect, so their young ones would not be frightened. He insisted that family outings were only to darkened movie theaters, where his face would not make anyone uncomfortable. People can be cruel, sometimes out of ignorance, sometimes out of curiosity. At an outing to Ripley’s Believe It or Not museum, a woman mistook the young man’s face for an exhibit, and asked him “What are you supposed to be?” Sergeant Mikeworth said “I’m a blown-up soldier.” While out shopping, people would either stare at him openly, turn away, or sometimes start crying. Darron Mikeworth’s face will never be the same, but after many procedures, surgeons have managed to rebuild it to where he doesn’t feel the need to hide himself away from the world. Last summer he walked his sister Amanda down the aisle at her wedding. Now, with his medical ordeal almost over, Sergeant Mikeworth has a new goal. He wants to return to the Army and continue to serve in whatever capacity he can do the most good. He knows he can never return to a combat assignment, but hopes there is a job he can do, possibly in training new soldiers, or in military intelligence. His father was a career soldier, and being a soldier is all Darron Mikeworth ever wanted to be. “I don’t want to be put on a shelf or a back burner, or left in a corner,” he said in an Associated Press interview. “If they give me half an opportunity, I can demonstrate I can do the job.” Sergeant Darron Mikeworth is a hero not only because of his service to his country, but also because of his strong will to survive and to continue to do his duty to his family, his country, and the Army he loves so much.
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